"Wait, How Many Ponies Did You Hypnotize?"
Iris Thorn was sitting at the Ponyville Cafe with her friend Cloudy Mind, when an odd question came into their conversation.
"Wait, how many ponies did you hypnotize?" Iris asked her friend.
You see, Cloudy Mind was Ponyville's residential hypnotherapist. But you could never be sure if you had seen her, because she had a tendency to remove all memories of her patients sessions. She said it was to keep her tricks a secret, but Iris thought Cloudy just liked the mysteriousness of it all.
Cloudy giggled, then shiftily looked side to side and leaned in close to Iris. "I could show you, if you want," she whispered into Iris's ear.
Iris nodded, and Cloudy giggled some more.
Cloudy looked around the tables, apparently looking for somepony. She then motioned with her hoof and Iris looked at where she was pointing. Filthy Rich was sitting alone at a table nearby, reading a newspaper.
"Hey, Mr. Rich?" Cloudy asked, and he looked over.
"Hmm?" he replied.
Cloudy extended her wing, so that it's tip was pointing at Filthy Rich.
"Pew," she said.
Filthy Rich instantly dropped his newspaper, his eyes fluttered closed, and he slumped forward on the table, fast asleep.
Iris looked from Filthy Rich, and then to Cloudy.
"How-" Iris started.
"-Did I do that? Universal trigger. I put it in all my hypnotic subjects. Makes it easier if they ever want a second session," Cloudy answered.
"B-but Mr. Rich? When did you-"
"-Hypnotize him?" she interrupted, "Oh, he had a nasty bragging problem a few years back. Took care of it for him. Might need to have another session with him though, as it seems he's returning to his old ways."
Iris looked at Filthy Rich's sleeping figure. "Will he be alright?" she asked, seeing him shift slightly in his sleep.
"Oh, he'll be fine. In a few minutes he'll wake up with no memory of what happened, and his mind will fill in the blanks." Cloudy picked up Filthy Rich's newspaper and put it on his head. She giggled.
"That's... incredible Cloudy," Iris said, watching as Cloudy propped Filthy into a sitting position.
"It's just hypnosis, and he's a great subject," Cloudy said. "Now, wanna see who else I've hypnotized?"
A grin spread across Iris's face. "Absolutely," she said.
The two mares walked up to the gates of the apple farm. Big Mac and Granny Smith were there, peeling apples.
Cloudy pulled Iris into a bush before the Apples could realize they were there.
"Guess who I've hypnotized," Cloudy whispered to Iris, pointing at both of them.
"Um, I don't know. I'm going to place my bet on Big Mac though," Iris whispered back.
Cloudy jumped out of the bush, saying, "Big Mac! Granny Smith! Hi!"
They looked at her, startled by the mare that had just jumped out of the bush.
She then outstretched her wing, pointing at each one of them in turn. "Pew pew," she said.
Granny Smith slumped to the ground, fast asleep. Big Mac stumbled around, staying conscious for a few seconds before laying down and closing his eyes.
"Both of them?" Iris said, stepping out of the bush. "That's hardly fair. What did you help them with?"
"Big Mac was just for fun, he was actually one of my first subjects. As you saw he was managing to fight it off for a moment, because I haven't had a session with him in so long. Granny Smith seemed to think I could make her young again, she didn't understand hypnosis very well. It's understandable. Modern hypnosis is a new practice, and still not very common. I still helped her with her joint pain though."
Just then, Cheerilee came walking up the path.
"Hello Cheerliee!" Cloudy said, already extending her wing.
"Oh, hello there dear-" Cheerilee started.
"Pew," Cloudy interrupted.
Cheerliee fell to the ground, asleep.
"What did she need helping with?" Iris asked, slightly in shock from the speed of the induction.
"Stress," Cloudy said, simply.
"Alright, who's next?" Iris asked.
"You'll see," Cloudy said, grinning.
They walked into the town park to find Octavia sitting at the fountain tuning her cello. Once again Iris returned to the world of bushes as Cloudy pulled her into one a few feet away from Octavia.
Cloudy poked her head out of the bush. "Hey, Octavia!"
Octavia looked round at the sound of the voice, but when she saw Cloudy, she quickly looked back at her cello and tightly shut her eyes, avoiding Cloudy's stare.
"Come on, Octavia! Aren't you going to say hello to your friend? Come on, you know you want to!" Cloudy poked further out of the bush, trying to get Octavia to look at her.
Octavia opened her eyes and sighed. She rolled her eyes and fixed Cloudy with a deadpan stare. "Good afternoon, Cloudy," she said, not looking away.
Cloudy couldn't hide the smile on her face as she pointed her wing at Octavia and said, "Pew."
Octavia kept her eyes open, setting down her cello and laying down before showing any signs of tiredness. She finally closed her eyes, and drifted off into a peaceful slumber.
Iris came out of the bush and poked Octavia. She didn't stir.
"She was different from the rest of the ponies," Iris said, glancing at Octavia's neatly set down cello, "What did you help her with?"
"Nothing, actually," Cloudy said, "She introduced me to a friend of hers, Wildest Dreams, and we did a joint session together," She frowned, "She still remembers that one, against my best wishes, and that's why she didn't look at me at first."
She gazed at Octavia's instrument as well. "It also appears that Dream replaced my trigger with a slow one, probably at Octavia's request, so she wouldn't damage her instrument."
"There's another hypnotist in town?" Iris asked, "I thought you said hypnosis was an uncommon practice."
"It is, and she's not in town anymore. She left for Las Pegasus to start her own business. Haven't heard from her in a while though, wonder if she's doing well."
"I'm sure she's doing alright. I mean, how hard could it be to keep up a business in Las Pegasus?" Iris reassured. "Now, as much fun as I'm having, I need to go shopping. I could have sworn I picked up milk, but I don't seem to have any."
"I'll come with!" Cloudy said, hopping forward to walk with Iris.
They walked into the market, only to find that it was packed. There were lines for all the stalls, including the dairy stall. Cloudy grinned. She poked Iris, who stopped in her tracks.
"Don't do it," Iris warned, for she had noticed Cloudy's grin.
Cloudy didn't appear to have heard Iris. She stepped up onto the fountain, her wing outstretched.
"EVERYPONY!" she yelled, then started to point her wing in all directions. "PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW!" she took a deep breath, "PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW!"
Iris watched in amazement at the ponies dropping like flies around her. Some were on the ground instantly, while others remained awake for a few moments before falling asleep. Soon, Cloudy and her were the only conscious ponies in the market. Cloudy hopped down from the fountain and stepped lightly over the ponies on the ground to get to the dairy stand. Iris followed suit, trying not to step on anypony's face.
Cloudy and Iris walked up to the dairy stand, only to find Derpy sleeping behind the stand, propped up by a bottle of milk.
Cloudy gently put her hoof on the sleeping mare's shoulder. "The pony I am touching," she spoke in a clear, calm, voice, "and only the pony I am touching will wake up, not realizing anything is out of the ordinary as soon as I let go of them."
Cloudy let go of Derpy's shoulder. The mare blinked a few times, before getting up and setting one of her gazes on the mares.
"Iris, Cloudy! What can I do for ya?" she said, moving the milk bottle she had previously been dozing on.
"Um, two bottles of milk please," Iris said, watching Derpy's eyes look right over all the sleeping ponies on the ground.
"Coming right up! That'll be four bits," Derpy said, getting out two bottles.
Iris paid for the milk, then walked away with Cloudy, the latter just barely holding in her giggles. As soon as they were out of earshot, Cloudy burst out laughing.
"That was so much fun!" she said between fits of laughter.
"And irresponsible," Iris added. "What if those ponies have somewhere to be? You seem to be abusing your power a bit."
"They'll only be out for a few minutes," Cloudy said, and stopped laughing. "Besides, when they wake up, it'll be as if they had a power nap."
Iris dropped the milk off at her house, then started to walk with Cloudy down the path. She soon noticed Cloudy was falling behind.
"Just one more pony for today," Cloudy said from behind her.
Iris turned around, to find that Cloudy had her wing pointed at her, grinning from ear to ear.
"Don't tell me that you..." she trailed off.
"Well what did you expect? For me not to hypnotize my best friend? We did it one night, just for fun. You know, I might actually give you your memories back. You were a great subject."
Iris squeezed her eyes shut, not looking at Cloudy. "Nuh uh. No way. Not happening."
"Aw come on, pleeease? I promise I'll let you remember it, it'll be fun!" Cloudy begged.
Iris opened her eyes and looked Cloudy in the eye. "Promise?" she asked.
"Promise!" Cloudy replied.
Iris sighed and nodded her head. Cloudy giggled.
"Hey Iris?" she asked.
"Yes, Cloudy?" Iris answered.
"Pew."
Author's Note
Hey guys, this is one of my first stories so constructive criticism is welcome! Also, if you want to see any of the hypnosis sessions mentioned in this story, I'd be more than happy to oblige!
This has been SilviaOra, signing off!
